Cecily McMillan is a 26-year-old Occupy activist and union organizer who was convicted in May 2014 of allegedly assaulting a police officer on March 17, 2012. She received strong support from activists in NYC and around the world during her felony trial and subsequent jail sentence.

After two years of censoring evidence and hand-selecting jurors, the prosecution was blatantly favored with overwhelming bias from Judge Ronald Zweibel. In a shocking verdict that stunned outside observers, she was found guilty despite insufficient evidence and Zweibel sentenced Cecily to 90 days in jail at Rikers Island, along with 5 years of probation. She was remanded without bail to jail on May 5 2014, despite having missed no court appointments over two years of hearings and her public insistence on refusing to plea out.

Cecily was released from jail on good behavior on July 2. She has conducted several interviews maintaining her innocence, and she has spoken out against deliberately inhumane conditions for inmates at Rikers (see media coverage).

In early October Ms. McMillan joined with Howie Hawkins and Ramon Jimenez at a press conference in support of clemency for non-violent drug offenders and the legalization of marijuana. They both spoke of the need to end the war on drugs and the mass incarceration that is, in part, a result of it. Andrew Cuomo has not once, in four years, used his powers of clemency to release a single imprisoned person.

Going into the last day before the election the Green Party's Howie Hawkins is poised to win more votes than any third party progressive candidate for governor in New York State history. If that holds the Green Party would move past the Working Families Party, and potentially the Conservative spot on the ballot, up to the third spot on the ballot—Row C.

Hawkins was spending the last day of the campaign holding a press conference in Binghamton at 1:30, doing radio interviews around the state (NYC, Albany, Ithaca, Utica), and concluding with an interview on NY1's Inside City Hall with Errol Louis.